Growth Dynamics Get Down

Good Monday morning. This is Sarah Waple, partner at Growth Dynamics, and I am here with a very special holiday Monday Morning Manager. I know it's Thanksgiving week, and we are all supposed to sit around and figure out what we're thankful for. I am 100% encouraging you to do that.

Symptoms:

Bob was exhausted after seeing over 15 accounts in the past week. He had talked about football, politics, family and even some industry news in order to get the client engaged in a conversation that might give him an opening to pitch his latest and greatest widget.

Symptoms:

Sadie was pumped to have a meeting with the right decision makers on her new product. They quickly agreed to her lunch and learn invitation and even let her know how excited they were about her products. They used a competitor’s products, and this was her chance to get the sale. She gathered the standard slide deck, added a few slides comparing her product to the others in the marketplace and even went as far to include delivery information. She knew this was the lunch and learn to end all lunch and learns and it would be an easy close.

Symptoms:

Carlos believes that sales success is simply a game of numbers, and his commitment to relentless prospecting has proven him right quarter after quarter, year after year. However, all that prospecting creates problems, for Carlos often finds himself so overwhelmed by follow-ups and open opportunities that he loses track of some of the best deals he has on the street.

Symptoms:

When Kathy hired Everett, a former user of her company's products, she thought she had finally found someone who could easily penetrate her market. Everett came from the industry and had been a devoted user of Kathy's products in his role as a product repair specialist. When Everett told Kathy he wanted to make the jump from user to salesperson for her product line, she thought it a great idea and immediately offered him a position. 

Symptoms:

Sophia loves selling. She loves it so much that she enjoys trying to sell her products to anyone that will listen. Her philosophy is: “No stone should go unturned.” Over the years, the number of prospects she has contacted, presented to and worked up proposals for have always been the highest in the company, but her sales results place her in the bottom quarter of the sales team.

Symptoms:

Sondra worked relentlessly to hit her numbers and keep her territory on top of the rankings.  Never shy about asking for business, if a sales report showed a dip in the numbers, Sondra would beat the bushes for the orders that might help push her over the goal for that quarter.

Symptoms:

Kathy is frustrated after a recent sales call. She believes if she was brave enough to ask about certain things, the call would have gone her way. It seems like she is constantly on defense and that the client is intentionally "pushing her buttons". Despite her training, it felt like she was always reacting to every little thing that was said rather than thinking about what was really going on. How can she find a way to consistently act like a professional on the call?